Posted 9:28 PM by Blah blah

BlogMatcher: Find Others Who Link Like You (Thoughtful)

Some guys have been discovering my blog through BlogMatcher, a cool new site by Ryo Chijiiwa, a Cal State Chico student, that lists which blogs link the MOST like yours. I've been complaining about not finding more people online who care about things like foreign policy, politics, the entertainment business, science, literature, journalism, and Charlie Rose---stuff I really am dying to talk about.

Yay for BlogMatcher! I'm gonna shoot a quick email to all the guys on my top ten list of blogs most like mine:

1. Quidnunc by James. He's a Linux user and a techie guy who also can talk to policy wonks! Great!

2. ReachM High Cowboy Network Noose by Kahlil. Politically liberal, he seems to like journalism, politics, and law.

3. How Appealing by Howard Bashman. From American Lawyer Media: "Bashman, an appellate lawyer with Philadelphia's Buchanan Ingersoll, presides over 'How Appealing,' the pre-eminent blog for the appellate court community, the primus inter pares of all legal blogs, the undeniable Marbury v. Madison of the genre. All of that, and it is only six months old. From a handful of hits at the beginning, Bashman recently reported getting 42,000 page visits in a single week.

Blogs can seem like diaries or journals, filled with navel-gazing and random observations added throughout the day. Bashman's is more focused, reporting the full range of state and federal appellate opinions and Supreme Court oral arguments. But he manages to keep it interesting and, often, funny.

Appellate lawyers, clerks and judges often say their work is too arcane to talk about with spouses and friends. But in Bashman's world, they find affirmation that analyzing footnotes and parsing cert grants can actually be fun.

'A visit to Howard's site is like hanging out with the world's most compulsive law librarian and Jay Leno at the same time,' says online journalist Dahlia Lithwick, the Supreme Court correspondent for Slate and a Bashman fan. 'It goes a long way toward proving that law might actually be interesting and important to people outside the profession.'

One sign of his popularity is that in recent months, judges, clerks, journalists and even executive branch officials have wanted to be noticed on his blog. He gets frequent e-mails alerting him to rulings or articles they'd like him to feature. And a mention by Bashman can produce results.

When Bashman noticed that a ruling last month by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals incorrectly cited the 3rd Circuit in a footnote, he noted it in his blog. Within hours, the mistake was corrected -- and Bashman got an e-mail from the judge, Jerry Smith. 'You were the first to spot the error in footnote 17. Thanks. I have fixed it,' Smith wrote Bashman."

4. Blue Goldfish Cafe by Gene van den Bosch. Also a huge news junkie, Gene likes literature and humanities BIG TIME. Yeah!

5. Douze Lunes, a blog in French, by Jean Ruaud in Paris. Given that I adore France, it's no surprise. Jean likes world news and reads all the major American sources, listens to National Public Radio, and even talked Jayson Blair just like I did. Ooh la la!

6. Incoming Signals by Christopher Bahn. Christopher: "I'm a writer, editor, radio dramatist, DJ and chronic websurfer. I live in Minneapolis. I was an English major in college. I'm 5'11". My shoes are size 9 and a half; I try not to wear more than two of them at a time. My car is almost old enough to vote. My blood type is B+. I have bucked the trend in my family towards male-pattern baldness." Awesome---I LOVE radio drama! Chris is the man.

7. Body and Soul by Jeanne D'Arc (not her real name). Interview with Jeanne. She's a professional writer and a mom. A feminist. Also attended Berkeley.

8. Karmalised by Diane, a liberal and another huge news junkie.

9. drat fink by Dave, a blog almost completely in lowercase. Rather cryptic. He wrote this replying to me. :)

10. Skimble by S. Kimble, "culture, politics, commentary, criticism." Liberal.

There you have it! To people discovering me from BlogMatcher, welcome and please say hi! I hope we can start some kind of conversation. I see my brain has much in common with that of a techie/policy wonk, a journalist, a radio dramatist, a writer, a mom, an appellate lawyer, a Frenchman, and an e. e. cummings wannabe. :D

I should change my field.